Vote: Appropriate or not?

[Something Fishy]

I'm in the process of building a giant travel wall map, which I'm having customized with our Very Official^TM family motto, "Why be normal when you can be yourself?". I've had it professionally translated into Latin: Cur normalis essem cum egomet sim.

So now the question is... do I go with the Latin or stick to English? Had the translation been a bit less - interesting - it would have been a no-brainer. But now I'm thinking it might not be the best thing to hang on the wall...

So, what say you? Go vote!

[CountValentine]

Latin is more interesting.

[YitzyS]

Not commenting on the actual question, but if you ever want to change up the moto a drop, I have a theme song for you...

אם אתה כבר נולד משוגע אז תשנה העולם

[SSLPhD]

Can you not put both?

[Lurker]

Go with Swahili:

Kwa nini uwe wa kawaida wakati unaweza kuwa wewe mwenyewe?

[Alexsei]

Can you use dum (while instead of when)? Ask the professional translator for an alternative?

[Lurker]

How do you feel about AriZona Iced Tea?

[yuneeq]

Or you can go with - C'est en faisant n'importe quoi qu'on devient n'importe qui whose literal meaning is "It is by doing whatever that we become whoever".

[Something Fishy]

Latin is more interesting.

I agree, but...

Can you not put both?

Nah, I feel that's neither here nor there.

Go with Swahili:

Kwa nini uwe wa kawaida wakati unaweza kuwa wewe mwenyewe?

Alol

[Something Fishy]

Can you use dum (while instead of when)? Ask the professional translator for an alternative?

Ok, THIS is a fantastic idea.

I asked on the Latin subreddit and got this in response:




...and I have absolutely no idea what he's saying lol.

But to quote my wife, it's not like anyone visiting us speaks Latin so put whatever you want.

[biobook]

He's saying Yes, it would be fine to use dum. 

Instead of "when you can be...", with "dum" you'd be saying "provided you can be..."  You might even ask for alternative translations of "if you can be..." or "considering that you can be..." to avoid translating "when".

A less literal translation might sound more like a succinct Latin motto.  "Actions speak louder than words" in Latin is "Acta, non verba", literally "Actions, not words."  So to get a more Latin-sounding motto, you may want to give the translator a more telegraphic version, like "Be not normal, be yourself" or "Not normal, be you", or "Yourself, not normal" and see what you get.

Or leave it as is. People understand that the same word can have different meanings in different languages, as Americans learn when in ירושלים  and looking for  רחוב פינס .

[Yehuda57]

I mean, the whole map is about your comings and goings



I think you're fine with it as is

[Something Fishy]

He's saying Yes, it would be fine to use dum. 

Instead of "when you can be...", with "dum" you'd be saying "provided you can be..."  You might even ask for alternative translations of "if you can be..." or "considering that you can be..." to avoid translating "when".

A less literal translation might sound more like a succinct Latin motto.  "Actions speak louder than words" in Latin is "Acta, non verba", literally "Actions, not words."  So to get a more Latin-sounding motto, you may want to give the translator a more telegraphic version, like "Be not normal, be yourself" or "Not normal, be you", or "Yourself, not normal" and see what you get.

Or leave it as is. People understand that the same word can have different meanings in different languages, as Americans learn when in ירושלים  and looking for  רחוב פינס .

LMAO

Very interesting post though. Thanks for the clarification - I'll keep it with dum for sure.

[skyguy918]

I'm in the process of building a giant travel wall map, which I'm having customized with our Very Official^TM family motto, "Why be normal when you can be yourself?". I've had it professionally translated into Latin: Cur normalis essem cum egomet sim.

So now the question is... do I go with the Latin or stick to English? Had the translation been a bit less - interesting - it would have been a no-brainer. But now I'm thinking it might not be the best thing to hang on the wall...

So, what say you? Go vote!

People hang their diplomas on the wall even when it shows they graduated magna/summa cum laude.

[Something Fishy]

People hang their diplomas on the wall even when it shows they graduated magna/summa cum laude.

True of course. But I have the option of avoiding it, so why not.

[Alexsei]

LMAO

Very interesting post though. Thanks for the clarification - I'll keep it with dum for sure.

Happy I was able to help without knowing a thing about Latin ...

[Moshe Green]

The whole world is not comprised of only English-speaking low-life's who's minds are stuck in dirty places.

Seriously... the same word can have two or many more meanings, especially when its in a different language...

[Definitions]

English sounds better not because the latin is bad. It just sounds better

[SuperFlyer]

English sounds better not because the latin is bad. It just sounds better

Agreed, you want to convey a message, not sound like a Shylock....

That interesting word is very common in Latin, such as "cum laude" etc

[CountValentine]

WOW that flew right over my head.